From Rise to Rival: Where is Threads Now?
A recap of the rise and fall of newest app on the market: Threads.
Image Source: HT Tech
Just when we thought we had enough social media platforms to update and manage, Threads launched.
What could we possibly need another app for? Well, Threads didn’t necessarily come in to be an additional app, but rather to replace an app: Twitter.
From rise to rival, we’re here to discuss the growth, competition and slight decline of the newest app on the market.
Threads is a content sharing platform with a priority on text - posting your thoughts, sharing memes and reposting your friends’ content. Although this isn’t a new revelation, it became one of the fastest growing apps ever.
Within the first two hours of its launch, 2 million people had downloaded Threads, and within two days, more than 70 million people had signed up. By the five day mark, the app surpassed 100 million users, a milestone that took Twitter 5 years to accomplish.
How did Threads grow so fast?
Threads used a marketing tactic that hasn’t been done before; it connected to another platform, Instagram, and allowed users to seamlessly sign up. Users were notified about Threads from their Instagram accounts and their usernames and verifications transferred over to their Threads accounts when downloaded. With 1.35 billion users on Instagram, the app was sure to blow up.
However, intrigue and a platform connection weren't the only factors growing the app. People instantly were drawn to the app, already opting to use this newer version over Twitter. The reason for this is simple; Threads touched on familiarity.
Instagram is a platform known for following your friends and family - people who you want to connect with and share with. Whereas on Twitter, users’ audiences are more random and likely outdated. Threads also automatically followed the accounts you follow on Instagram, which further fostered this familiarity factor.
How is Threads performing now?
Over the summer, Threads was reported to have lost 80 percent of its users, and news of this decline caused businesses and users to put less effort into growing on the app. Now, the daily active user count is around 1.1 million compared to 3.4 million in July.
There is no standout reason for this decline, and it may just be because there are too many apps that people are investing their time into. In the meantime, Threads is continuing to add new features to grow its audience back. We think Threads had its 15 minutes of fame, and in order to grow again, it needs to incorporate some new, never-before-seen features.
It’s also important to note that Twitter has undergone a rebranding to X, which we will discuss in our next creator economy piece. Stay tuned, and subscribe for more!
Best,
Ariana for the Don’t Count Us Out Yet Team